


Later That Night...

by KatWithTheGlasses



Series: Third Time's the AU [4]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, Identity Reveal, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24451684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatWithTheGlasses/pseuds/KatWithTheGlasses
Summary: After everything that happened at the Picnic that day, Maddie is having trouble sleeping. Jack understands. A late night conversation between two parents.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jack Fenton, Danny Fenton & Maddie Fenton, Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton
Series: Third Time's the AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1455973
Comments: 11
Kudos: 205





	Later That Night...

“Mads?” The voice shattered the silence. Maddie's head snapped around to find Jack standing by the staircase, his brows knit together in concern.

"Hi Jack." She said softly before turning back around. She was sitting in one of the lab chairs in the middle of the room facing the Portal. Jack approached her quietly, pajamas already on over his hazmat suit. He had come looking for her after she didn't come to bed.

Even though it had been a long  _ long _ day, Maddie's mind would not let her rest. Information ran through her head like rapids, Maddie feeling like a log just barely staying afloat in the current. Danny's revelations to them both earlier, combined with watching him hunt ghosts, was just too much for her at once.

“You okay?” He asked gently, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She nodded just a bit.

“Just overwhelmed.” She managed to get out before burying her face in her hands. It had all seemed so simple over the past week. Pretending nothing had changed, but knowing deep down that everything had. She had been able to put on a smile and a brave face for Danny, because he wasn’t doing this without some kind of support from her. She felt that if she could just make it to today, then this burden would be lifted off her shoulders. Instead, it all came crashing down around her harder. This was all her fault. She knew it without a doubt.

She knew tears were streaming down her face.

“Mads…” Jack stood next to her helplessly.

“He’s my baby… And I… I did this…” Her voice was shattered. She hated it. She had always been the strong one. She felt Jack’s hand shift as he knelt down in front of her chair, the other coming up to rest on her other shoulder.

“Mads, it's not just your fault.” His voice was soft, and laced with pain. Maddie couldn’t take that. She snapped.

“I left the power on to the Portal!” She shouted as she shut her eyes harder in a desperate attempt to stop the tears streaming down her face. “I left… it was my fault!” She couldn’t form a solid sentence around the lump in her throat.

“Mads…”

"...I killed our son…" She was openly sobbing now. Jack had leaned in, wrapping his arms around her. "I killed him and we never even noticed."

"We both built it, Mads." Jack's rumbling voice tried to soothe her. "It's just as much my fault as it is yours."

"No it's not." Jack frowned into Maddie's shoulder. He was never any good with this sort of thing. He has always been awkward when it comes to emotions. He held his wife as she sobbed. There was little more he felt like he could do. Finally, after what felt like hours to the distraught Jack, he could feel her calming down, emotions drained. “...What do we do now?” Her voice was small, broken, and so  **not** Maddie’s.

“Nothing’s changed. He’s our son, Maddie. We love him.” Maddie pulled back to stare incredulously at her husband. It was so simple for him.

“...But…”

“But nothing!” He stood, eyes locked with hers. “We’re Fentons gosh darn it! Ghost hunting is what we do!” Maddie couldn’t help the small sob that made its way out of her throat. 

“Our son is a ghost, Jack!” He frowned down at her. It was at times like these that Maddie realized just how much of a size difference there was between them.

“Half. He’s half ghost.” Jack's face scrunched. "Whatever that technically means." Maddie stared up at her husband wide-eyed and mouth agape for a beat.

"Exactly, Jack!" She stood quickly, surprising the large man. "I don't want our Danny out there hunting ghosts! It's dangerous! He's gotten hurt before.  _ We've hurt him before _ !" Jack frowned at his wife.

"Then we build a better door." Jack thumbed over his shoulder at the Portal. "Danny fights because he turned it on and they come through there. We build a better door and Danny won't have to fight anymore." Maddie stared at him.

"But Jack…!"

"But nothing, Mads!" Jack grew stern, something even she hardly saw. "You compiled all that research. You know exactly what it means. What our son is. His entire being has been bonded with ectoplasm. There is no separating the human from the ghost. There is no 'them' like two separate beings in a possession. There is just Danny, sweetheart. There is nothing to fix." He squeezed her shoulders gently, a small smile breaking through for a moment. "And I know that hurts you most of all. He's just our son, Mads."

Maddie knew the tears were back, but she cried silently, giving Jack a moment to compose his thoughts. She listened to the eerie not-silence of the Portal as she watched Jack's face concentration.

"He saw first hand what ghosts could do, and he  _ still _ stepped forward to protect everyone. Even though the town hated him; even though he didn't understand what had happened to him;  **even though** we hunted  _ him _ like an  **_animal_ ** , us,  _ his own parents _ ; he  **_still_ ** tried to do the right thing. He tried to show us that he was good, that he was doing the right thing. We just didn't let ourselves see that he was the good guy, strictly because of what he was." Jack frowned a bit.

"He went through all of that, scared and alone, and he's still just trying to do the right thing. We couldn't have raised a better son, Mads. And I am so proud of him." Maddie couldn't help but smile at her husband.

"So that's really it, Jack. Just like that." The man nodded once confidently.

"Just like that." Maddie took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, wiping at the itchy drying tear tracks on her face.

"You know that there will still be natural portals popping up all over. We've documented hundreds now, since the Portal turned on."

"Right. Guess we'll just have to be better ghost hunters, then. Maybe Danny can give us some tips?"

"... I'd like that, I think." Maddie responded softly. Jack quirked a smile at her.

"Come on, then. That new doorway won't build itself!"

"Right now?" Maddie stared incredulously at her husband.

"What better time than now? I've got some great ideas, I just need to test them." And in a flash, his jammies were gone, tossed to the side without a care; Jack heading over to the nearest free work bench.

* * *

"This time you better stay in there!" Danny told the now full Fenton Thermos as he glared at it. The Box Ghost had lured him out of bed at 3 a.m. and Danny was furious. He knew Valerie had to work the morning shift at the Nasty Burger today, so he felt obligated to go after the nuisance. After a brief fight, the blue ghost was contained, and an exhausted Danny flew home with bleary eyes.

Not even thinking, Danny dropped through the house intangibly to the basement, landing on the last few steps. Knowing his parents usually were in the bed by now, he didn't even bother to hide or be quiet as he stepped down the last few steps.

"You better stay over there at least two days this time, Boxy or I'll…" Danny stepped into the basement fully and froze. Both his parents were staring at him from across the room, Jack with his welding helmet flipped up off his face. "Uhhh…"

"Welcome home son!" Jack greeted cheerily with a wave, welding torch still in hand. Danny relaxed a bit and smiled back, before he realized he was still in ghost mode. He changed back in a flash, and at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"What are you guys still doing up?"

"I was inspired!" Jack was being just a little too boisterous, a little too loud, but Danny, in his fog, did not notice. He smiled a little.

"What are you still doing up, Sweetheart? Its…" Maddie looked over at the clock on the wall. "It's 4 in the morning!" She was surprised. Had they really been down here all night  _ again _ ?

"Box ghost." Danny said nonchalantly as he held up the Fenton Thermos.

"He didn't give you too much trouble, did he?" Danny sniggered at that as he began walking towards the Portal. 

“Come on, Dad. It’s the  _ Box Ghost _ .” Danny rolled his eyes as he put the canister up to the panel to the side of the door. “He’s more of a nuisance than a threat.” He flicked a switch with little thought and the machine automatically dumped the ghost in the thermos back into the Zone. “If I could just get him to stop throwing the boxes when he’s working I wouldn’t hafta keep throwing him back in the Zone.” Job completed, he pulled the thermos loose and capped it back, fighting back a yawn poorly.

“Today’s Sunday, Danny. Why don’t you sleep in, since you were up so late.” Danny glanced surprised at his Mom. She never let him sleep in on the weekends. “We’re gonna be at this several more hours. I’ll fix breakfast when you get up.”

“Alright.” He smiled at her sheepishly. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, Danny.” She smiled back before flipping her welding helmet back down. “Now go get some sleep.” He gave them a small wave before heading back up the stairs, thermos clutched loosely in his grip.


End file.
